It's hard to imagine a time when football did not enjoy mass popularity, and unless you've ever tried to organise a works or pub team , it's equally difficult to appreciate the obstacles that Alcock, Kinnaird et al overcame in order to bring the game to a wider public. As Alcock himself reflected in 1880:What was ten or fifteen years ago the recreation of a few … has now become the pursuit of thousands – an athletic exercise, carried on under a strict system … almost magnified into a profession.

The world of Association football in the 1860s and early 1870s was narrow and parochial, described in correspondence to the press as a 'local clique.'A great sense of fun also reaches out to us across the years- these were hip young men engaged in something novel and almost esoteric.

Alcock, in particular, was always on the lookout for novelty- ultimately it was this desire that gave us both international football and the FA Cup.

In 1867 a combined Eton and Harrow team challenged The Rest of the World.A fitting example of how the most rag tag scratch matches in which these pioneers were involved has retained a place in the annals of the Association game, for the first match , which took place on January 8th 1867 , The World (referred to in some quarters of the press as The Universe) could only muster 8 players.The 8 who took to the field at Westminster's Vincent Square ground were:

For the rematch, held at the same venue on 23.01.67, The World turned out only 7 players. Despite the fact that Eton and Harrow had a one man advantage The World (who were practically Old Carthusians) ran out 0-2 winners.

Having played 3 matches at the Olympics, in June 1924 The Irish Free State entertained the USA in Dublin. These matches are frequently omitted from the list of internationals played by the Republic of Ireland.In March 1926 The Irish Free State were beaten 3-0 by a strong Italian side in Turin. The programme pictured above is for the 'return' match.This was not considered a full international by the Italians, and the side was designated as Italy B (or Nazionale Cadetti). It was a decent side however, and all 11 starters would in time become full internationals.

GK

Frank Collins

Jacobs

FB

Frank Brady c

Shamrock Rovers

FB

Alec Kirkland

Fordsons

HB

William Glen

Shamrock Rovers

HB

Michael O`Brien

Derby County

HB

Thomas Muldoon

Aston Villa

F

Bill Lacey

Shelbourne

F

Harry Duggan

Leeds United

F

Christopher Martin

Bo`ness

F

Bob Fullam

Shamrock Rovers

F

Joe Kendrick

Everton

GK

Mario Gianni

Bologna

FB

Mario Zanello

Pro Vercelli

FB

Delfo Bellini

Genoa

HB

Pietro Genovesi

Bologna

HB

Luigi Burlando

Genoa

HB

Alberto Giordani

Bologna

F

Federico Munerati

Juventus

F

Antonio Vojak

Juventus

F

Pietro Pastore

Milan

F

Enrico Rivolta

Internazionale

F

Luigi Cevenini c

Juventus

Sub.

Gianangelo Barzan(Milan) replaced Zanello

Bob Fulam and Federico Munerati were the goalscorers as Italy won 2-1 watched by an crowd of approximately 20,000.

Newcastle upon Tyne and Sunderland, lying less than 20km apart, are the 2 major settlements in the North East of England , an industrialised area that is traditionally passionate about football.Sunderland FC began life as Sunderland and District Teachers in 1879. The name was changed to Sunderland AFC in 1881 and the club turned professional in 1885. They first entered the FA Cup in the 1884-85 season.Sunderland joined the Football League in 1890.Newcastle United was formed by the merger of Newcastle East End (1881) and Newcastle West End (1882) in 1892. It was effectively a take over of a financially weak West End by the professional East End (already a limited company). One way in which West End had outdone their rivals was in the quality of their base- St James'Park, and it was there that the 'new' club settled. Refused entry to the Football League's First Division at the start of the 1892–93 season, they were invited to play in the newly founded Second Division. However, this was not seen as a lucrative proposition, so Newcastle United decided to remain in the Northern League.The following year they joined Division 2 of the Football League.

01.09.06

Both clubs enjoyed Golden Eras: in the 1890s Sunderland were League Champions 3 times in 4 seasons. Between 1904 and 1911 Newcastle United reached 5 FA Cup finals and won 3 League titles.

Stand out games?25.04.03- Reigning champions Sunderland went to St James' Park requiring a win to seal the title. Newcastle United won 1-0 thanks to a Bob McColl goal.

05.12.08- Newcastle United went into this game with the stingiest defence in the League- they had conceded 13 goals in 15 games. The first half was unremarkable. Sunderland took the lead in the 8th minute (Hogg) and Newcastle equalised with a penalty.George Holley put Sunderland ahead in the 48th minute. Hogg scored again on 58. In the next 18 minutes Sunderland added another 6 goals ( 2 each from Holley and Bridgett and 1 apiece from Mordue and Hogg).

Home to Aston Villa since 1897, Villa Park is one of the great stadia of English football. During the first quarter of the 20th century only Goodison could rival its grandeur. Aston Lower Grounds was originally an amusement park set in the grounds of a 17th century mansion. Up until 1914 the stadium also hosted cycling and athletics events- in this photograph from 1907 the banked cycling track is clearly visble.

Amsterdam, June 9th 1928- Italy beat Egypt in the Olympic Bronze medal match. The final score is 11-3. Schiavo, Banchero and Magnozzi score 3 each, Baloncieri gets 2.And the Italians celebrate by ... I always thought that this photograph depicted a fascist salute, which had entered common usage in Italy in 1925. The contemporary Dutch and French descriptions refer to an Olympic greeting .

The England team was a full international side (not the England Amateur side that was regularly thrashing continental teams in the pre 1914 era). Earlier in the month England had comprehensively beaten Austria ( 6-1 & 11-1) and Hungary (7-0). At The Vienna Congress of FIFA Bohemia's membership was terminated as a result of pressure from the Austrian Football Association. The Austrians had opposed Bohemia's membership from the start on the basis that Bohemia was an Austrian territory. They had suspended matches between Austrian and Bohemian club sides whilst Bohemia were members of FIFA.

The first time that League football was played on Xmas Day was in 1889, the second season of League football.In heavy conditions before a crowd of 6-7,000, top of the table Preston North End entertained Aston Villa at Deepdale.

North End took a 6th minute lead and then came back from 2-1 down to win 3-2.When reading up on this match I was surprised to note that the scorer of Preston's goals was Nick Ross- one of the leading fullbacks of the era.Ross had risen to prominence as a left back. In the 1888-89 season (when he was at Everton, reputedly earning £10 a week) he had played 2 games at centre forward, scoring once.On his return to Preston for the 1889-90 season Ross played 16 of his 23 matches at centre forward, clocking up 24 goals.Remarkably, with the exception of a match against Burnley in 1891 in which he played at outside right, all the remaining games of Ross' career were played as a back! He finished with a career total of 31 goals from his 6 seasons during the Football League era.Incidentally the contemporary press referred to Ross (or Ross senior, as his younger brother Jimmy was also at Preston North End) as both Nick and Jack. The great football writer Jimmy Catton (Tityrus) called him Nick- and that's the example I'll follow as Catton was very close to the Preston North End players.

The Sheffield Football Association was founded in 1867, but until 1877 the clubs played the Sheffield Rules variant of the game. In 1877 Sheffield adopted the Association rules, or rather the last differences were ironed out, the FA having already adopted several Sheffield innovations and reciprocal compromises having being reached (after the use of hands and touchdowns had disappeared from both sets of rules, offsides and throw ins had been the main sticking point).

The clubs of the Sheffield F.A. of 1877 were:

Albion

Artillery and Hallamshire Rifles

Attercliffe

Brightside

Brincliffe

Broomhall

Crookes

Exchange

Exchange Brewery

Fir Vale

Gleadless

Hallam

Heeley

Kimberworth

Millhouses

Norfolk

Norfolk Works

Owlerton

Oxford

Parkwood Springs

Philadelphia

Rotherham

Sheffield

Surrey

Thursday Wanderers

Wednesday

On March 19th 1877 Hyde Park Sheffield hosted a tournament for 'non association' clubs. The teams played for a prize of 3 footballs. The donor of the prize was unknown, but the local press carried reassurances that there was no move afoot to start a rival association.

In 1877 a rival association given the name Sheffield New Association was established in protest at the Sheffield FA's decision not to allow any club under two years old to become a member.The original members of the New Association were:

Alliance

Buckingham

Friends

Nether

Newfield

Owlerton Broughton

Park Friendly

Park Wanderers

Perseverence

Pye Bank

Rising Star

St Jude’s

St Phillip’s

Saxons

Sheaf United

In 1883 the New Association changed its name to The Hallamshire Football Association.

Sheffield Challenge Cup

1877

Wednesday

4

3

Heeley

1878

Wednesday

2

0

Attercliffe

1879

Thursday Wanderers

3

1

Heeley

1880

Staveley

3

1

Heeley

1881

Wednesday

8

1

Ecclesfield

1882

Heeley

5

0

Pyebank

1883

Wednesday

2

1

Lockwood Brothers

1884

Lockwood Brothers

2

0

Heeley & Middlesbrough

1885

Lockwood Brothers

2

0

Park Grange

1886

Mexborough

2

1

Heeley

1887

Wednesday

2

1

Collegiate

Sheffield New Association Challenge Cup

1878

Pye Bank

5

0

Owlerton Broughton

1879

Rising Star

4

1

Pitsmoor Christ Church

1880

Burton Star

2

1

Rising Star

1881

Intake

2

0

Burton Star

1882

Intake

1

0

Dronfield Exchange

Hallamshire

Challenge Cup

1883

Spital (Chesterfield)

?

1884

Eckington

4

3

Clinton

1885

Staveley

?

?

Eckington

1886

Staveley

3

2

Eckington

1887

Eckington

3

0

Clinton

At the end of the 1886–87 season a merger of the two associations was negotiated by Charles Clegg who took charge of the new association with Pierce-Dix as secretary.

This match was played on the Racecourse, at Wrexham, on Saturday, November 18. The weather was very unfavourable, it being a damp, foggy, miserable day. Owing to the laurels which the Sheffield team have won, great interest was attached to the match, and notwithstanding the inclement weather, upwards of 250 were present on the course. Sheffield won the toss, and chose the goal nearest the grand stand. A little before three o'clock the ball was kicked off by Mr Kendrick, the captain of the North Wales Club. The Sheffield team soon began to press down on their opponents, but were smartly repulsed by Mr Kendrick. They, however, soon recovered their lost ground, and at 2.50 the ball was neatly shot through by Mr Gregory. Another goal was nearly made by the Sheffield men, but the goal was saved by Mr E. Evans, of the other club, putting the ball over the bar with his hands. Some great difficulty was then experienced by the home team in keeping their goal from the invaders. It soon became evident that there was no chance of success against the Sheffield players, the North Wales men stumbling on to the grass, while scarcely one of the opposite team was seen to fall. The Welsh goal required all the assistance that could be rendered, no attempt having been made to secure a goal. Mr J. C. Clegg, twice in succession, shot the ball within a few inches of the post, but failed in securing a goal. A raid was then made by the home team into the Sheffield ground, and Mr Davies, succeeding in neatly passing the ball to Mr Underbill, an excellent shot was made at the goal, and the goal keeper, possessing a long arm, managed to lift the ball over the bar. This infused fresh vigour into the first team. A scrimmage shortly afterwards ensued close to the strangers’ goal, which was ultimately taken by the North Wales at 3.15. The ball was then again kicked off, and some good play was witnessed, Mr Mosforth succeeding in placing the ball near to goal, but his intentions were frustrated by Mr Clegg, who secured a goal for the strangers. The home team, up to half time, made the scoring a difficult matter for the Sheffield men, although. they were often in close proximity to the North Wales goal, but after the game was again resumed, the Sheffield team began to show to advantage, and quickly ran their score up. When the game terminated, after an hour and a half's playing, the goals secured by the Sheffielders were six to the North Wales's one.

In the evening the Sheffield team were invited by their opponents to the Wynnstay Arms Hotel, where Mr J. B. Murless had prepared an excellent dinner. The chairman was Lieutenant-Colonel Jones, and the vice- chair was occupied by Lieutenant Evan Morris.

Cambrian News and Merionethshire Standard 24.11.76

A number of present or future internationals on show here as for Sheffield the Cleggs,W. H. Carr, Billy Mosforth and Jack. Hunter would all represent England . North Wales featured 6 players who would represent the Principality -Kenrick, Dr Gray, Edwin Cross, Jack Jones, George F Thomson and William H Davies.

Glaswegian George Pattullo travelled to Catalunya due to his connections in the coal trade. He was a noted tennis player, who played casual football for an ex-pats team. The story goes that Pattullo played in goal, and that in one game, with his team 5-1 down, he swapped places with the centre forward at half time and scored 5 goals. Joan Gamper saw the performance and persuaded Pattullo to turn out for Barca. Pattullo made his debut in September 1910. During the 1910-11 season Pattullo scored 41 times in only 20 appearances as Barcelona won the Campionat de Catalunya.A confirmed amateur who declined or refunded expenses, Pattullo returned to Scotland at the end of the season.Remarkably in 1912 he travelled back to Barcelona in order to appear in the semi final of the Copa Pirineos against Espanyol. He scored twice as Barcelona won 3-2. Pattullo did not appear in the final.His overall record for Barcelona was 43 goals in 23 games between 1910 and 1912.

Pattullo served with distinction in the 1914-18 War. He was affected by poisonous gas and there is no record of him playing any further football. In the 1920s he returned to Spain and was manager of Baleares FC in Mallorca in 1930.

This is our 1,000th post, so it is dedicated to the memory of the footballer after whom this blog was originally named: Gottfried Fuchs of Karlsruher FV and Germany.

Note the building in the background, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology. It features prominently in images of matches at Karlsruhe in the early part of the 20th century when the city played a central role in the development of German football.The images below come from Germany's first international victory, a 1-0 win over Switzerland at Karlsruhe on 04.04.09.Das Stadion an der Telegraphenkaserne was demolished in 2006.More here: http://www.karlsruher-fv1891.de/stadien.html

Rudolf 'Ruedi' Ramseyer won 59 caps for Switzerland between 1920 and 1931. He captained the national side 30 times, scored 5 goals in internationals and appeared at the 1924 Olympic Games.Ramseyer transferred from Young Boys to FC Berne in 1925. He began his career as a winger but then became a successful fullback.The stunning card was part of a series issued by the Amor Chocolate company of Berne.

The luck of the draw...Hungary were in a pretty good place before the commencement of the 1912 Olympic tournament at Stockholm.15 games had passed since they had been beaten 8-2 by England in 1909. Of these only 3 had been lost. 8 had been won, and 45 goals had been scored. In November 1911 Imre Schlosser had scored 6 in a 9-0 win over Switzerland.Their final warm up match had been a 6-0 win over Norway in Oslo.Having been given a bye in the first round Hungary faced England Amateurs (Great Britain).It was a scorching day, and an experienced Hungary XI were outgunned by the English.Bradford City's Harold Walden got 6 goals and the legendary Vivian Woodward 1 as England ran out 7-0 winners.Contemporary Hungarian reports state that the score did not reflect the balance of play- possession and territory were about equal but that whereas the English forwards played phenomenally Schlosser was unwell and off form.

England Amateurs (Great Britain)

GK

Dr Ronald Brebner

Northern Nomads

FB

Thomas Burn

London Caledonians

FB

Arthur Knight

Portsmouth

HB

Harry Littlewort

Glossop North End

HB

Ted Hanney

Reading

HB

Joseph Dines

Ilford

F

Arthur Berry

Oxford City

F

Vivian Woodward

Chelsea

F

Harold Walden

Bradford City

F

Gordon Hoare

Woolwich Arsenal

F

Ivan Sharpe

Derby County

Coach:

A. Birch

Hungary

GK

Domonkos László

M.T.K.

FB

Rumbold Gyula

Ferencváros

FB

Payer Imre

Ferencváros

HB

Bíró Gyula

M.T.K.

HB

Károly Jenő

Budapesti A.K.

HB

Vágó Antal

M.T.K.

F

Sebestyén Béla

M.T.K.

F

Bodnár Sándor

M.A.C

F

Pataki Mihály

Ferencváros

F

Schlosser-Lakatos Imre

Ferencváros

F

Borbás Gáspár

Ferencváros

Coach: Herczog Ede

Hungary won the consolation tournament, beating Germany (2 days after their record 16-0 win over Russia) by 3-1. Hungary met Austria in the final, winning 3-0 with goals from Schlosser, Pataki and Bodnár.

The above sculpture celebrates Betis Balompié's La Liga win in 1935. Among the names on the sculpture is that of Betis' manager- former Manchester United captain Patrick O'Connell. The team (currently Real Betis) had been promoted as winners of the 1931–32 Segunda División.

Patrick O'Connell wasn't among the 7 players suspended as a result of the Football Association's investigation into the 1915 betting scandal. There must have been some doubts, however, over his penalty miss in the Good Friday match against Liverpool that gave rise to the charges.

Liverpool Daily Post- 03.04.15

O'Connell was raised in Dublin but began his professional football career with Belfast Celtic. After spells with The Wednesday (where he struggled to hold a first team place) and Hull City, O'Connell joined Manchester United in 1914, by which time he had represented Ireland 6 times.

O'Connell was captain of Manchester United at the time of the match fixing affair. In 1919 he moved to Dumbarton. O'Connell returned to England in 1920, joining Ashington of the North Eastern League. The following season Ashington joined the Third Division (north) and O'Connell was player manager.

O'Connell moved to Spain in 1922 and was manager of Racing Santander for 7 years. he then moved to Real Oviedo before joining Betis in 1932. Following the La Liga success O'Connell moved on to Barcelona. He continued coaching in Spain until 1949.

Arthur Friedenreich had a phenomenal goal scoring record. It is possible that he was the most prolific scorer in the history of the game.

Let's look at the statistics (or the reputed statistics) associated with Fried:

It has been traditionally asserted that he scored 1239 goals in 1329 games. This figure was supposedly the outcome of a contemporary record which was the work of 2 people; Friedenreich's father and his Paulistano team mate Mário de Andrade e Silva. If we accept that Fried's career lasted from 1909 (when he was 17) until 1935 1329 games would equate to a shade over 49 games a season. The scoring rate is 0.93 goals per game.

When Andrade died the records that he and Friedenreich Senior had kept were lost.

A journalist named De Vanney firstly accepted these figures as being accurate and then inexplicably reversed them to promote the claim that Fried had scored 1329 goals in 1239 games. This would have represented a strike rate of 1.07 goals per game.

Other figures (based on analysis of contemporary reports) have been 554 goals in 561 games (Alexandre da Costa) and 558 goals in 562 games (Severino Filho).

A detailed season by season record that appears on RSSSF Brazil gives figures of 557 goals in 562 games (acknowledging the absence of reliable records for a number of matches). This gives a strike rate of 0.99 goals per game.

Looking at this apparently comprehensive record of the matches that Friedenreich played in during his adult life it is hard to imagine where the 767 unrecorded matches (and 682 goals) could have come? There have been suggestions that Andrade might have included scratch matches and Torneio Início Paulista (in which teams would play a number of matches of 20 minutes in one day). Even if this was the case the defecit of 30 matches a season (spread over his entire career) seems excessive. I am inclined to believe the RSSSF Brazil figures which whilst not accounting for the 1000+ goals that others claim for Fried, are very impressive indeed: